On a day where the entire attention of the NC State sports world is on Reynolds Coliseum, the Wolfpack women’s basketball team got things started off on the right foot for the Pack. NC State easily handled Hampton 83-51 Wednesday morning, but that’s nothing new in the Old Barn for head coach Wes Moore’s team.
The Wolfpack (9-0) is ranked No. 10 in the country and is off to its best start since the turn of the century, and all but two of its nine wins have come within the friendly rafters of the building that has housed Pack basketball since 1949. It’s an arena that has a storied history, and is a staple of college basketball lore.
“It’s special. It’s such a great home-court advantage,” Moore said. “I know [ESPN broadcaster] Jay Bilas, I’ve heard him say a couple times this is the toughest place he ever played. We were up at Notre Dame a couple years ago and Digger Phelps, the long-time men’s coach, came out during our shootaround and he told our players ‘Reynolds is the toughest place I ever took a team.’”
Later Wednesday, the Wolfpack men’s team will play its annual Heritage Game in Reynolds as the arena area of the coliseum will officially be renamed the James T. Valvano Arena to honor the legendary coach.
Valvano’s name will join all-time great women’s coach Kay Yow’s name in Reynolds, as the court of the arena is the Kay Yow Court. For Moore, getting to coach in an arena with as much history and legacy as the Wolfpack’s beloved Old Barn is something special.
“A lot of history, a lot of tradition here. It’s an honor to be here at NC State,” Moore said. “It’s exciting now to have coach Valvano’s name on the arena. I’m very humbled to be on that sideline. I look down, I see Kay Yow Court. I look up, I see the Kay Yow hall of fame banner. I look across now and I see James T. Valvano Arena. I have to pinch myself, like ‘what am I doing in this room.’”
The Pack’s record in the recently renovated Reynolds is staggering. After playing the 2015-16 off campus at Broughton High School, the Wolfpack women returned to the new and much-improved Reynolds in the fall of 2016.
Since then, NC State hasn’t done much losing in the historic building. With the win over Hampton, propelled by a 24-point game from graduate guard Kiara Leslie, the Pack is now 37-4 in the Old Barn since the renovation. Those four losses are all to ACC opponents, with two of them ranked in the top 15 at the time.
The win over the Pirates was the 24th straight home nonconference victory for NC State, as the Pack hasn’t lost a non-ACC game in Reynolds since before the renovation. There have been some pretty good wins for the Pack in the Old Barn over the past few years too.
The Wolfpack has four ranked wins in Reynolds since moving back to the coliseum, highlighted by a December 2016 win over No. 2 Notre Dame. That 2017-18 season also saw the Pack beat No. 12 Duke at home.
“We have a really great fan base that comes out basically every game,” junior guard Aislinn Konig said. “They are super loyal and they get excited about us as a team. That makes it really easy for us to try and play our best game for the fans.”
Last season NC State added two more ranked wins inside of Reynolds, over No. 10 Florida State during ACC play and then over No. 16 Maryland in the NCAA Tournament.
Wednesday night will mark a new era for the Old Barn, as Valvano is honored before the men’s game. But for the women’s team, winning big in Reynolds Coliseum Wednesday morning was business as usual.
